


for all those blinding lights

by mscarlymarie



Category: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Friendship, Happy Ending, angst kind of?, gil has a fear of losing anne, i don't know where this came from, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-07-13 20:59:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16025870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mscarlymarie/pseuds/mscarlymarie
Summary: Anne walks across the schoolhouse roof. Gilbert is not happy.





	for all those blinding lights

**Author's Note:**

> Again, I don't know where half this comes from. It also another midnight written story. I don't know what I'm doing with life. I'll edit tomorrow, maybe idk. Hopefully it makes sense too cause I'm too tired to read it over. Enjoy :)

Anne Shirley-Cuthbert felt the wind blow through her dress, causing her to almost tip over. She heard the gasps of her audience when they saw her waiver. Don’t look down. Don’t look down. She took a deep breath and put one foot in front of her. 

“Anne, please come down!” Diana pleaded. 

Anne ignored her friend and put another foot forward. She could hear the murmurs of her peers below her. She didn’t understand herself how she got into this situation with walking across the school roof, but here she was. Anne remembered Josie Pye teasing her about something that leaded to an argument and ultimately ended with a deal between the pair. Anne walks the length of the school roof and Josie Pye would stop teasing her. 

Spring is just around the corner with the temperature warming up a little bit, but it still hadn’t melted all the ice yet, so when Anne took a few more steps, one foot slipped to the side. As her audience began to scream, on knee landed on the roof while her hands scrapped at the same beam her knee landed on, keeping herself on the roof. 

“Anne, you really need to come down, now.” This time is was Gilbert’s voice she heard. The worry in his voice was almost enough for her to come down, but then she heard Josie Pye laugh, reigniting the flame in her to finish this. She slowly pushed against the roof to bring herself up to standing position. She looked at her shaky hand and saw the blood coming from her scrapped hands. The combination of the dry air and balancing herself against the wood, her skin broke easily. Anne heard a few more cries from her friends, begging to come down. But she was almost halfway there. She needs to finish this. 

Taking one more step forward, she heard the crowd talking again. She heard Billy ask, “What is the freak doing up there?”, but she still focused forward. Towards the trees. The barren trees that are awaiting spring for their buds to grow. To start creating life again and bless the land of Avonlea of its leaves and flowers. She thought about how beautiful the sight will be in full bloom, against the orange sunset in a few months time. Running about the forest and finding new creatures to interact with, to find new flowers to make crowns out of, to decorate the special place in the woods.

She imagined it all until a voice disrupt her thoughts, “Anne, you are at the end, please come down now!”

Anne shook her heads and looked ahead, she didn’t see anymore roof in front of her to walk. She smiled to herself and she lowered her body to sit on the beam. She gripped herself against the side of the schoolhouse and lowered herself to the makeshift stool she used to get up there. She felt Diana rush to her side and finish helping her down. She brushed her hands against her dress and flinched with the stinging of her bleeding hands. 

“Anne,” Diana sighed, looking at her hands. 

Anne ignored her friend again and walked up to Josie Pye, “Eat your words.”

Anne watched smugly as Josie Pye huffed before stomping away. She turned to smile at Diana, but was met with a grim look, “Oh dear Diana, what’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong,” Diana chuckled coldly, “Anne you just almost died walking across that roof!” 

“But I didn’t, as you can see, I’m perfectly fine other than the cuts on my hands.”

Diana shook her head as she handed Anne a napkin, “Press this against your hands so they don’t get infected.” 

Diana moved inside the school house for the start of the day. Anne went to follow but stopped as she felt eyes boring into her back. She turned to see Gilbert staring at her. She studied his facial expression and he looked as if he was struggling with something internally. She watched as he clenched his jaw before moving past her into the schoolhouse, not saying a word. 

Anne sighed and silently scolded herself. Why couldn’t she do anything right? 

Lunch time soon came around and the girls were settling into their circle inside the schoolhouse to eat their lunch. The ground was still too soggy to sit outside, despite the warming temperatures. 

“I’m going to go ask Gilbert to sit with me.” Ruby suddenly announced. Anne paused for a second, her food in hand ready to be plopped in her mouth. She wondered why today of all days Ruby got the courage to do something, but if it made her friend happy, who was she to question it. She continued to eat as she watched Ruby call Gilbert over. 

The door had yet to be shut in their lunch space and her eyes followed through the doorway to where Gilbert was standing. Her eyes locked with his and she saw the sudden change of mood in him. Gilbert, the chivalrous man who always spoke to anyone who needed something, walked away. 

Her eyes cast downward as she heard Ruby get upset over him walking away without a word. Diana and Josie Pye both comforted her, giving excuses as to why he acted like that to calm her down. Anne knew part of the reason he was acting rude was because of her. She could handle all the teasing from the other students, she could stand up for herself with them, but she couldn’t handle Gilbert being mad at her and it causing sadness in a friend of hers. 

She would talk with him right after school. 

As Mr. Phillips dismissed class for the day, Anne watched as Gilbert eagerly got up from his seat to go pack his things up. Anne was right after him, putting on her coat and collecting her items before she approached him. 

“Is there something wrong?”

The question was met with silence. 

“Gilbert? What’s wrong?” 

Anne watched as he turned away from her and headed out the schoolhouse door. 

“Anne,” she heard Diana say and felt a hand on her arm. She refused to give up this easily. She shrug off Diana’s hand and followed out the door yelling Gilbert’s name. It attracted the attention of her classmates, but didn’t pay attention.

She followed him onto the path towards his house asking again, “What’s wrong?”

When she was met with nothing again, she began to get angry. “Okay fine! If you won’t talk, then listen. I don’t know what you were doing back there ignoring poor Ruby like that. You know how fragile she is- I can handle whatever this is but do not put that on Ruby. I can tell you have a problem with me-“

Gilbert stopped and turned towards her, “Yeah you’re right. I shouldn’t have done that to Ruby and I do have a problem with you.”

Anne stood frozen. She knew something she had done was the issue, but she never thought Gilbert would admit it with such anger in his voice. 

“What did I do?” She whispered. 

She looked into his eyes, waiting for an answer only for him to turn away from her. He didn’t move, but he stood silently. 

“Please. I- I need to know what I did to make you this angry.” 

“You.” He mumbled without turning around. 

“What?”

“You were being you.” 

She felt a tear slide down her cheek. She felt so broken that being herself made Gilbert Blythe this upset with her. Could she really be that bad? Gilbert turned around and held her eyes with his. His face wasn’t full of anger anymore, but frustration. 

“You’re always so worried about the people around you who don’t like you that you go and do reckless things like walking the schoolhouse roof. You could’ve died, Anne.” Gilbert clenched his jaw as he continued, “It’s funny how someone so positive with stories and life, who brings so much light and love into this dull world focuses on all the people who don’t like her. You seem to forget all those around you, who love you.”

“Love?” She murmured. 

That brought a small smile to Gilbert’s face before disappearing again. 

“I can’t lose you too.” His voice cracked. 

She watched as everything broke in him, his frustration and anger turning into sadness. Anne had never thought of it that way. She took a few steps forward before lunging her arms around his neck, both losing grips on their school items. He wrapped both his arms around her waist, burying his head into her shoulder. She could feel the silent tears drip into her clothing. 

“You won’t lose me.” She felt his head nod against her shoulder and his arms wrap tighter around her. 

“You won’t lose me.” She said again. Not only to comfort him, but as a promise to herself to never let Gilbert Blythe feel this pain again. 

She saw what losing his father did to him and she vowed that she would never be the cause of the same pain. This pain. 

“You won’t lose me.”


End file.
